That takes production for the first quarter of the milk year to almost 200m litres short of profile.

Charles Holt of the Farm Consultancy Group said unseasonably cold weather in early May had hampered cows’ output.

“Milk output last year was well below quota and cows weren’t firing on all cylinders anyway.

But if they don’t reach their potential in the spring, it’s going to be hard to make that up.”

Quota prices remain under pressure.

Figures from The Dairy Group showed the average leasing price fell again to 0.22p/litre for 4% butterfat, while purchased quota slipped to just 2.5p/litre, about 6p/litre less than the same time last year.